Bobby Kotick net worth
Number of divisions: 22
What is Bobby Kotick’s net worth and salary?
Robert “Bobby” Kotic is an American businessman with a net worth of $600 million. Kotick is known for being the CEO of Activision Blizzard. He first became the CEO of Activision in 1991 and later planned the company’s merger with Blizzard in 2008. Activision is the second-largest listed video game company by market capitalization. Its popular games include “World of Warcraft”, “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush Saga.” The company has more than 10,000 employees worldwide.
Under the leadership of Kotick, the market value of Activision has soared from US$14 billion to more than US$54 billion in the ten years from 2010 to 2020.
In addition to being involved in the video game industry, Bobby also serves on the boards of several companies, most of which are technology companies. He was once a director of Yahoo. The current non-executive director of The Coca-Cola Company. In addition, he served on the board of the Tony Hawk Foundation.
early life
Robert A. Kotick was born in 1963. He grew up in New York and became interested in business and entrepreneurship at a very young age. He made his first business card when he was still in junior high school, and when he arrived in high school, he was already running his own business. After graduating from high school, he studied art history at the University of Michigan.
Profession
Kotick’s career began in the early 1980s when he was a student at the University of Michigan. He and a friend founded a technology company in the dormitory and developed software for Apple II together. After the two received a $300,000 investment in their software company, Steve Jobs heard about them and visited Kotick and his friends. Jobs advised them to quit and focus on software, and they did.
After several attempts to break into the video game industry, Bobby finally succeeded in acquiring a 25% stake in Mediagenic, the company later known as Activision. By 1991, he served as the CEO of this newly established company and led them to achieve accelerated growth. Activision later became famous for its very successful “Call of Duty” video game series.
In 2006, Kotick oversaw the merger with several video game development companies such as Blizzard Entertainment and Sierra Entertainment. After the merger, Bobby became the CEO of the new company called Activision Blizzard. Since the merger, Blizzard has been known for video game series such as Diablo, World of Warcraft and Overwatch.
In the late 2010s, Kotick focused more on e-sports and established the Overwatch League. In 2017, it was announced that Bobby Kotick had become the longest-serving person in charge of all listed technology companies. Bobby’s recent expansion work includes making video games based on Activision Blizzard’s most popular video games.
salary
In 2020, it was revealed that Bobby Kotick’s income in the previous year (2019) was approximately US$40 million. This includes a base salary of $30.1 million (down from $31 million the previous year), as well as additional bonuses, allowances, and stock options.
According to reports, Kotic’s salary has increased since then because his income reflects the success of Blizzard’s stock price.
In 2021, it was revealed that Bobby’s total compensation in 2020 was $154 million.
In October 2021, after a series of allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the company, Bobby voluntarily requested that his salary be reduced to $62,500.
Stock sale
According to company documents, between January 2000 and March 2020, Bobby sold approximately US$450 million worth of Activision stock. When he sold $347 million worth of stock in August 2016, a large part of this windfall came from him.
As of 2020, Bobby owns less than 4 million shares of Activision Blizzard and 70,000 shares of Coca-Cola. As of 2020, his 4 million shares of Activision Blizzard are worth $288 million. In the past two decades, he sold stocks worth approximately $350 million. His Coca-Cola stock is worth $16 million.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
dispute
Bobby Kotick fell into controversy in 2020, when several Blizzard employees stood up and accused the wage gap, especially Kotick’s inflated wages and total annual income as an example of this imbalance. Although Bobby made a seven-figure income with successful games such as Overwatch, Diablo, and World of Warcraft, the wages of the employees who actually made these games were relatively low. Bobby Kotick’s salary is approximately 320 times the average annual income of Activision Blizzard employees of $97,000.
People stood up and told shocking stories. Due to lack of available funds, some of the employees skipped meals. According to reports, some people serve “bindling” free coffee in cafeterias to suppress appetite. One employee even admitted that they chose not to have children due to low wages.
Many people are surprised to find that few of Blizzard employees can get six-figure salaries, especially considering its success and dominance in the video game industry. Blizzard’s official statement stated that the salary increase for “outstanding performers” was higher than in previous years, and more employees were promoted than in previous years.
However, it was later discovered that these wages had increased by less than 10%. In addition, Bobby Kotick laid off more than 800 workers a year ago-even though the company made record profits at the time. The wage gap within Blizzard is a microcosm of what is happening in other parts of the entire video game industry, because similar stories are emerging in other game studios. Many employees have expressed their desire to join the union.
In other words, Bobby Kotic Have done If all Blizzard employees need to discuss their issues, please provide them with his personal phone number and email.
In addition, Bobby Kotick’s entire business model in Activision Blizzard has also attracted considerable criticism. His stated goal is to focus on games that can be monetized for a long time, and avoid games where sequel creation cannot be guaranteed. In the final analysis, Kotick is purely for business, releasing games based on the bottom line, not their artistic value.
In 2009, he caused a sensation when he mentioned “If I decide, I will further increase the price”. He is answering questions about Activision Blizzard’s increase in game prices. Although the comment was a joke, it was regarded as insensitive because most consumers were fighting the global recession at the time.
On the other hand, Kotick also threatened that unless Sony lowers the price of the console, it will stop making games for PS3. This was also in 2009. He also initiated a number of initiatives to support small video game developers and expressed his desire to “maintain enthusiasm for game development”.
